Matera such a Passion!

In the beginning was … Pasolini. Who, settling in Matera his movie Gospel according to Matthew, brought the city to national attention, showing the exceptional beauty while lambasting the pitiful state of disrepair and neglect. The Sassi as ancient Jerusalem and the Murgia as Palestine of 2000 years ago. Then no one would have imagined that this would become a real brand. Yeah, because then, in the 80s came Richard Gere to interpret King David and the final consecration in 2002 with The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson. And many others after him.

Mater Sacra…Passion on the Murgia

Matera , however, is not a simple background for the biblical stories, a perfect and comfortable setting . Whoever come here, in fact, is irresistibly kidnapped by the energy that exudes from the rock , from the caves, trenches and neighborhoods with their thousand-year history. An ancestral sacredness, a deep spirituality. That manifest themselves in all their intensity on the occasion of Holy Week, when the city, joined by thousands of visitors, gives his best. Also thanks to a series of events related to the rites of the passion and resurrection of Jesus.

This year it begins on Tuesday 15 April, with the screening of the film by Pasolini – this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of it – at 17.30 at the Teatro Duni; 19.30 onwards, the Passio Christi through the streets of Historical Centre, with about two hundred listed for the parade and the “living pictures” of the Via Crucis. On Wednsday April 16, on the other hand will open the exhibition “Matera , Easter and traditions” which will stay open until April 25 in the underground rooms of Via San Biagio 27: vintage photos, stories told live in Matera’s dialect and paintings will revive the evocative atmosphere of the Easter of old times. And then from Thursday 17 to Saturday 19 April, the city will be filled with faith and emotion for Mater Sacra beautiful representation of the Passion of Jesus will shine Murgia Timone of lights and sounds, with dozens of actors and a narrator to represent the life that ends and then reborns with the death and resurrection of Jesus (here the complete program http://www.matersacra.it/programma_2014.asp) .